Worthy.Bible » STRONG » Ezekiel » Chapter 4 » Verse 1

Ezekiel 4:1 King James Version with Strong's Concordance (STRONG)

1 Thou also, son H1121 of man, H120 take H3947 thee a tile, H3843 and lay H5414 it before H6440 thee, and pourtray H2710 upon it the city, H5892 even Jerusalem: H3389

Cross Reference

1 Samuel 15:27-28 STRONG

And as Samuel H8050 turned about H5437 to go away, H3212 he laid hold H2388 upon the skirt H3671 of his mantle, H4598 and it rent. H7167 And Samuel H8050 said H559 unto him, The LORD H3068 hath rent H7167 the kingdom H4468 of Israel H3478 from thee this day, H3117 and hath given H5414 it to a neighbour H7453 of thine, that is better H2896 than thou.

1 Kings 11:30-31 STRONG

And Ahijah H281 caught H8610 the new H2319 garment H8008 that was on him, and rent H7167 it in twelve H8147 H6240 pieces: H7168 And he said H559 to Jeroboam, H3379 Take H3947 thee ten H6235 pieces: H7168 for thus saith H559 the LORD, H3068 the God H430 of Israel, H3478 Behold, I will rend H7167 the kingdom H4467 out of the hand H3027 of Solomon, H8010 and will give H5414 ten H6235 tribes H7626 to thee:

Isaiah 20:2-4 STRONG

At the same time H6256 spake H1696 the LORD H3068 by H3027 Isaiah H3470 the son H1121 of Amoz, H531 saying, H559 Go H3212 and loose H6605 the sackcloth H8242 from off thy loins, H4975 and put off H2502 thy shoe H5275 from thy foot. H7272 And he did so, H6213 walking H1980 naked H6174 and barefoot. H3182 And the LORD H3068 said, H559 Like as my servant H5650 Isaiah H3470 hath walked H1980 naked H6174 and barefoot H3182 three H7969 years H8141 for a sign H226 and wonder H4159 upon Egypt H4714 and upon Ethiopia; H3568 So shall the king H4428 of Assyria H804 lead away H5090 the Egyptians H4714 prisoners, H7628 and the Ethiopians H3568 captives, H1546 young H5288 and old, H2205 naked H6174 and barefoot, H3182 even with their buttocks H8357 uncovered, H2834 to the shame H6172 of Egypt. H4714

Jeremiah 6:6 STRONG

For thus hath the LORD H3068 of hosts H6635 said, H559 Hew ye down H3772 trees, H6097 and cast H8210 a mount H5550 against Jerusalem: H3389 this is the city H5892 to be visited; H6485 she is wholly oppression H6233 in the midst H7130 of her.

Jeremiah 13:1-14 STRONG

Thus saith H559 the LORD H3068 unto me, Go H1980 and get H7069 thee a linen H6593 girdle, H232 and put H7760 it upon thy loins, H4975 and put H935 it not in water. H4325 So I got H7069 a girdle H232 according to the word H1697 of the LORD, H3068 and put H7760 it on my loins. H4975 And the word H1697 of the LORD H3068 came unto me the second time, H8145 saying, H559 Take H3947 the girdle H232 that thou hast got, H7069 which is upon thy loins, H4975 and arise, H6965 go H3212 to Euphrates, H6578 and hide H2934 it there in a hole H5357 of the rock. H5553 So I went, H3212 and hid H2934 it by Euphrates, H6578 as the LORD H3068 commanded H6680 me. And it came to pass after H7093 many H7227 days, H3117 that the LORD H3068 said H559 unto me, Arise, H6965 go H3212 to Euphrates, H6578 and take H3947 the girdle H232 from thence, which I commanded H6680 thee to hide H2934 there. Then I went H3212 to Euphrates, H6578 and digged, H2658 and took H3947 the girdle H232 from the place H4725 where I had hid H2934 it: and, behold, the girdle H232 was marred, H7843 it was profitable H6743 for nothing. Then the word H1697 of the LORD H3068 came unto me, saying, H559 Thus saith H559 the LORD, H3068 After this manner will I mar H7843 the pride H1347 of Judah, H3063 and the great H7227 pride H1347 of Jerusalem. H3389 This evil H7451 people, H5971 which refuse H3987 to hear H8085 my words, H1697 which walk H1980 in the imagination H8307 of their heart, H3820 and walk H3212 after H310 other H312 gods, H430 to serve H5647 them, and to worship H7812 them, shall even be as this girdle, H232 which is good H6743 for nothing. For as the girdle H232 cleaveth H1692 to the loins H4975 of a man, H376 so have I caused to cleave H1692 unto me the whole house H1004 of Israel H3478 and the whole house H1004 of Judah, H3063 saith H5002 the LORD; H3068 that they might be unto me for a people, H5971 and for a name, H8034 and for a praise, H8416 and for a glory: H8597 but they would not hear. H8085 Therefore thou shalt speak H559 unto them this word; H1697 Thus saith H559 the LORD H3068 God H430 of Israel, H3478 Every bottle H5035 shall be filled H4390 with wine: H3196 and they shall say H559 unto thee, Do we not certainly H3045 know H3045 that every bottle H5035 shall be filled H4390 with wine? H3196 Then shalt thou say H559 unto them, Thus saith H559 the LORD, H3068 Behold, I will fill H4390 all the inhabitants H3427 of this land, H776 even the kings H4428 that sit H3427 upon David's H1732 throne, H3678 and the priests, H3548 and the prophets, H5030 and all the inhabitants H3427 of Jerusalem, H3389 with drunkenness. H7943 And I will dash H5310 them one H376 against another, H251 even the fathers H1 and the sons H1121 together, H3162 saith H5002 the LORD: H3068 I will not pity, H2550 nor spare, H2347 nor have mercy, H7355 but destroy H7843 them.

Jeremiah 18:2-12 STRONG

Arise, H6965 and go down H3381 to the potter's H3335 house, H1004 and there I will cause thee to hear H8085 my words. H1697 Then I went down H3381 to the potter's H3335 house, H1004 and, behold, H2009 he wrought H6213 a work H4399 on the wheels. H70 And the vessel H3627 that he made H6213 of clay H2563 was marred H7843 in the hand H3027 of the potter: H3335 so he made H6213 it again H7725 another H312 vessel, H3627 as seemed H5869 good H3474 to the potter H3335 to make H6213 it. Then the word H1697 of the LORD H3068 came to me, saying, H559 O house H1004 of Israel, H3478 cannot H3201 I do H6213 with you as this potter? H3335 saith H5002 the LORD. H3068 Behold, as the clay H2563 is in the potter's H3335 hand, H3027 so are ye in mine hand, H3027 O house H1004 of Israel. H3478 At what instant H7281 I shall speak H1696 concerning a nation, H1471 and concerning a kingdom, H4467 to pluck up, H5428 and to pull down, H5422 and to destroy H6 it; If that nation, H1471 against whom I have pronounced, H1696 turn H7725 from their evil, H7451 I will repent H5162 of the evil H7451 that I thought H2803 to do H6213 unto them. And at what instant H7281 I shall speak H1696 concerning a nation, H1471 and concerning a kingdom, H4467 to build H1129 and to plant H5193 it; If it do H6213 evil H7451 in my sight, H5869 that it obey H8085 not my voice, H6963 then I will repent H5162 of the good, H2896 wherewith I said H559 I would benefit H3190 them. Now therefore go to, speak H559 to the men H376 of Judah, H3063 and to the inhabitants H3427 of Jerusalem, H3389 saying, H559 Thus saith H559 the LORD; H3068 Behold, I frame H3335 evil H7451 against you, and devise H2803 a device H4284 against you: return H7725 ye now every one H376 from his evil H7451 way, H1870 and make your ways H1870 and your doings H4611 good. H3190 And they said, H559 There is no hope: H2976 but we will walk H3212 after H310 our own devices, H4284 and we will every one H376 do H6213 the imagination H8307 of his evil H7451 heart. H3820

Jeremiah 19:1-15 STRONG

Thus saith H559 the LORD, H3068 Go H1980 and get H7069 a potter's H3335 earthen H2789 bottle, H1228 and take of the ancients H2205 of the people, H5971 and of the ancients H2205 of the priests; H3548 And go forth H3318 unto the valley H1516 of the son H1121 of Hinnom, H2011 which is by the entry H6607 of the east H2777 gate, H8179 and proclaim H7121 there the words H1697 that I shall tell H1696 thee, And say, H559 Hear H8085 ye the word H1697 of the LORD, H3068 O kings H4428 of Judah, H3063 and inhabitants H3427 of Jerusalem; H3389 Thus saith H559 the LORD H3068 of hosts, H6635 the God H430 of Israel; H3478 Behold, I will bring H935 evil H7451 upon this place, H4725 the which whosoever heareth, H8085 his ears H241 shall tingle. H6750 Because they have forsaken H5800 me, and have estranged H5234 this place, H4725 and have burned incense H6999 in it unto other H312 gods, H430 whom neither they nor their fathers H1 have known, H3045 nor the kings H4428 of Judah, H3063 and have filled H4390 this place H4725 with the blood H1818 of innocents; H5355 They have built H1129 also the high places H1116 of Baal, H1168 to burn H8313 their sons H1121 with fire H784 for burnt offerings H5930 unto Baal, H1168 which I commanded H6680 not, nor spake H1696 it, neither came H5927 it into my mind: H3820 Therefore, behold, the days H3117 come, H935 saith H5002 the LORD, H3068 that this place H4725 shall no more be called H7121 Tophet, H8612 nor The valley H1516 of the son H1121 of Hinnom, H2011 but The valley H1516 of slaughter. H2028 And I will make void H1238 the counsel H6098 of Judah H3063 and Jerusalem H3389 in this place; H4725 and I will cause them to fall H5307 by the sword H2719 before H6440 their enemies, H341 and by the hands H3027 of them that seek H1245 their lives: H5315 and their carcases H5038 will I give H5414 to be meat H3978 for the fowls H5775 of the heaven, H8064 and for the beasts H929 of the earth. H776 And I will make H7760 this city H5892 desolate, H8047 and an hissing; H8322 every one that passeth H5674 thereby shall be astonished H8074 and hiss H8319 because of all the plagues H4347 thereof. And I will cause them to eat H398 the flesh H1320 of their sons H1121 and the flesh H1320 of their daughters, H1323 and they shall eat H398 every one H376 the flesh H1320 of his friend H7453 in the siege H4692 and straitness, H4689 wherewith their enemies, H341 and they that seek H1245 their lives, H5315 shall straiten H6693 them. Then shalt thou break H7665 the bottle H1228 in the sight H5869 of the men H582 that go H1980 with thee, And shalt say H559 unto them, Thus saith H559 the LORD H3068 of hosts; H6635 Even so H3602 will I break H7665 this people H5971 and this city, H5892 as one breaketh H7665 a potter's H3335 vessel, H3627 that cannot H3201 be made whole again: H7495 and they shall bury H6912 them in Tophet, H8612 till there be no place H4725 to bury. H6912 Thus will I do H6213 unto this place, H4725 saith H5002 the LORD, H3068 and to the inhabitants H3427 thereof, and even make H5414 this city H5892 as Tophet: H8612 And the houses H1004 of Jerusalem, H3389 and the houses H1004 of the kings H4428 of Judah, H3063 shall be defiled H2931 as the place H4725 of Tophet, H8612 because of all the houses H1004 upon whose roofs H1406 they have burned incense H6999 unto all the host H6635 of heaven, H8064 and have poured out H5258 drink offerings H5262 unto other H312 gods. H430 Then came H935 Jeremiah H3414 from Tophet, H8612 whither the LORD H3068 had sent H7971 him to prophesy; H5012 and he stood H5975 in the court H2691 of the LORD'S H3068 house; H1004 and said H559 to all the people, H5971 Thus saith H559 the LORD H3068 of hosts, H6635 the God H430 of Israel; H3478 Behold, I will bring H935 upon this city H5892 and upon all her towns H5892 all the evil H7451 that I have pronounced H1696 against it, because they have hardened H7185 their necks, H6203 that they might not hear H8085 my words. H1697

Jeremiah 25:15-38 STRONG

For thus saith H559 the LORD H3068 God H430 of Israel H3478 unto me; Take H3947 the wine H3196 cup H3563 of this fury H2534 at my hand, H3027 and cause all the nations, H1471 to whom I send H7971 thee, to drink H8248 it. And they shall drink, H8354 and be moved, H1607 and be mad, H1984 because H6440 of the sword H2719 that I will send H7971 among them. Then took H3947 I the cup H3563 at the LORD'S H3068 hand, H3027 and made all the nations H1471 to drink, H8248 unto whom the LORD H3068 had sent H7971 me: To wit, Jerusalem, H3389 and the cities H5892 of Judah, H3063 and the kings H4428 thereof, and the princes H8269 thereof, to make H5414 them a desolation, H2723 an astonishment, H8047 an hissing, H8322 and a curse; H7045 as it is this day; H3117 Pharaoh H6547 king H4428 of Egypt, H4714 and his servants, H5650 and his princes, H8269 and all his people; H5971 And all the mingled H6153 people, and all the kings H4428 of the land H776 of Uz, H5780 and all the kings H4428 of the land H776 of the Philistines, H6430 and Ashkelon, H831 and Azzah, H5804 and Ekron, H6138 and the remnant H7611 of Ashdod, H795 Edom, H123 and Moab, H4124 and the children H1121 of Ammon, H5983 And all the kings H4428 of Tyrus, H6865 and all the kings H4428 of Zidon, H6721 and the kings H4428 of the isles H339 which are beyond H5676 the sea, H3220 Dedan, H1719 and Tema, H8485 and Buz, H938 and all that are in the utmost H7112 corners, H6285 And all the kings H4428 of Arabia, H6152 and all the kings H4428 of the mingled people H6153 that dwell H7931 in the desert, H4057 And all the kings H4428 of Zimri, H2174 and all the kings H4428 of Elam, H5867 and all the kings H4428 of the Medes, H4074 And all the kings H4428 of the north, H6828 far H7350 and near, H7138 one H376 with another, H251 and all the kingdoms H4467 of the world, H776 which are upon the face H6440 of the earth: H127 and the king H4428 of Sheshach H8347 shall drink H8354 after H310 them. Therefore thou shalt say H559 unto them, Thus saith H559 the LORD H3068 of hosts, H6635 the God H430 of Israel; H3478 Drink H8354 ye, and be drunken, H7937 and spue, H7006 and fall, H5307 and rise H6965 no more, because H6440 of the sword H2719 which I will send H7971 among you. And it shall be, if they refuse H3985 to take H3947 the cup H3563 at thine hand H3027 to drink, H8354 then shalt thou say H559 unto them, Thus saith H559 the LORD H3068 of hosts; H6635 Ye shall certainly H8354 drink. H8354 For, lo, I begin H2490 to bring evil H7489 on the city H5892 which is called H7121 by my name, H8034 and should ye be utterly H5352 unpunished? H5352 Ye shall not be unpunished: H5352 for I will call H7121 for a sword H2719 upon all the inhabitants H3427 of the earth, H776 saith H5002 the LORD H3068 of hosts. H6635 Therefore prophesy H5012 thou against them all these words, H1697 and say H559 unto them, The LORD H3068 shall roar H7580 from on high, H4791 and utter H5414 his voice H6963 from his holy H6944 habitation; H4583 he shall mightily H7580 roar H7580 upon his habitation; H5116 he shall give H6030 a shout, H1959 as they that tread H1869 the grapes, against all the inhabitants H3427 of the earth. H776 A noise H7588 shall come H935 even to the ends H7097 of the earth; H776 for the LORD H3068 hath a controversy H7379 with the nations, H1471 he will plead H8199 with all flesh; H1320 he will give H5414 them that are wicked H7563 to the sword, H2719 saith H5002 the LORD. H3068 Thus saith H559 the LORD H3068 of hosts, H6635 Behold, evil H7451 shall go forth H3318 from nation H1471 to nation, H1471 and a great H1419 whirlwind H5591 shall be raised up H5782 from the coasts H3411 of the earth. H776 And the slain H2491 of the LORD H3068 shall be at that day H3117 from one end H7097 of the earth H776 even unto the other end H7097 of the earth: H776 they shall not be lamented, H5594 neither gathered, H622 nor buried; H6912 they shall be dung H1828 upon H6440 the ground. H127 Howl, H3213 ye shepherds, H7462 and cry; H2199 and wallow H6428 yourselves in the ashes, ye principal H117 of the flock: H6629 for the days H3117 of your slaughter H2873 and of your dispersions H8600 are accomplished; H4390 and ye shall fall H5307 like a pleasant H2532 vessel. H3627 And the shepherds H7462 shall have no way H4498 to flee, H6 nor the principal H117 of the flock H6629 to escape. H6413 A voice H6963 of the cry H6818 of the shepherds, H7462 and an howling H3215 of the principal H117 of the flock, H6629 shall be heard: for the LORD H3068 hath spoiled H7703 their pasture. H4830 And the peaceable H7965 habitations H4999 are cut down H1826 because H6440 of the fierce H2740 anger H639 of the LORD. H3068 He hath forsaken H5800 his covert, H5520 as the lion: H3715 for their land H776 is desolate H8047 because H6440 of the fierceness H2740 of the oppressor, H3238 and because H6440 of his fierce H2740 anger. H639

Jeremiah 27:2-22 STRONG

Thus saith H559 the LORD H3068 to me; Make H6213 thee bonds H4147 and yokes, H4133 and put H5414 them upon thy neck, H6677 And send H7971 them to the king H4428 of Edom, H123 and to the king H4428 of Moab, H4124 and to the king H4428 of the Ammonites, H1121 H5983 and to the king H4428 of Tyrus, H6865 and to the king H4428 of Zidon, H6721 by the hand H3027 of the messengers H4397 which come H935 to Jerusalem H3389 unto Zedekiah H6667 king H4428 of Judah; H3063 And command H6680 them to say H559 unto their masters, H113 Thus saith H559 the LORD H3068 of hosts, H6635 the God H430 of Israel; H3478 Thus shall ye say H559 unto your masters; H113 I have made H6213 the earth, H776 the man H120 and the beast H929 that are upon H6440 the ground, H776 by my great H1419 power H3581 and by my outstretched H5186 arm, H2220 and have given H5414 it unto whom it seemed H5869 meet H3474 unto me. And now have I given H5414 all these lands H776 into the hand H3027 of Nebuchadnezzar H5019 the king H4428 of Babylon, H894 my servant; H5650 and the beasts H2416 of the field H7704 have I given H5414 him also to serve H5647 him. And all nations H1471 shall serve H5647 him, and his son, H1121 and his son's H1121 son, H1121 until the very time H6256 of his land H776 come: H935 and then many H7227 nations H1471 and great H1419 kings H4428 shall serve H5647 themselves of him. And it shall come to pass, that the nation H1471 and kingdom H4467 which will not serve H5647 the same Nebuchadnezzar H5019 the king H4428 of Babylon, H894 and that will not put H5414 their neck H6677 under the yoke H5923 of the king H4428 of Babylon, H894 that nation H1471 will I punish, H6485 saith H5002 the LORD, H3068 with the sword, H2719 and with the famine, H7458 and with the pestilence, H1698 until I have consumed H8552 them by his hand. H3027 Therefore hearken H8085 not ye to your prophets, H5030 nor to your diviners, H7080 nor to your dreamers, H2472 nor to your enchanters, H6049 nor to your sorcerers, H3786 which speak H559 unto you, saying, H559 Ye shall not serve H5647 the king H4428 of Babylon: H894 For they prophesy H5012 a lie H8267 unto you, to remove you far H7368 from your land; H127 and that I should drive you out, H5080 and ye should perish. H6 But the nations H1471 that bring H935 their neck H6677 under the yoke H5923 of the king H4428 of Babylon, H894 and serve H5647 him, those will I let remain still H3240 in their own land, H127 saith H5002 the LORD; H3068 and they shall till H5647 it, and dwell H3427 therein. I spake H1696 also to Zedekiah H6667 king H4428 of Judah H3063 according to all these words, H1697 saying, H559 Bring H935 your necks H6677 under the yoke H5923 of the king H4428 of Babylon, H894 and serve H5647 him and his people, H5971 and live. H2421 Why will ye die, H4191 thou and thy people, H5971 by the sword, H2719 by the famine, H7458 and by the pestilence, H1698 as the LORD H3068 hath spoken H1696 against the nation H1471 that will not serve H5647 the king H4428 of Babylon? H894 Therefore hearken H8085 not unto the words H1697 of the prophets H5030 that speak H559 unto you, saying, H559 Ye shall not serve H5647 the king H4428 of Babylon: H894 for they prophesy H5012 a lie H8267 unto you. For I have not sent H7971 them, saith H5002 the LORD, H3068 yet they prophesy H5012 a lie H8267 in my name; H8034 that I might drive you out, H5080 and that ye might perish, H6 ye, and the prophets H5030 that prophesy H5012 unto you. Also I spake H1696 to the priests H3548 and to all this people, H5971 saying, H559 Thus saith H559 the LORD; H3068 Hearken H8085 not to the words H1697 of your prophets H5030 that prophesy H5012 unto you, saying, H559 Behold, the vessels H3627 of the LORD'S H3068 house H1004 shall now shortly H4120 be brought again H7725 from Babylon: H894 for they prophesy H5012 a lie H8267 unto you. Hearken H8085 not unto them; serve H5647 the king H4428 of Babylon, H894 and live: H2421 wherefore should this city H5892 be laid waste? H2723 But if they be prophets, H5030 and if the word H1697 of the LORD H3068 be H3426 with them, let them now make intercession H6293 to the LORD H3068 of hosts, H6635 that the vessels H3627 which are left H3498 in the house H1004 of the LORD, H3068 and in the house H1004 of the king H4428 of Judah, H3063 and at Jerusalem, H3389 go H935 not to Babylon. H894 For thus saith H559 the LORD H3068 of hosts H6635 concerning the pillars, H5982 and concerning the sea, H3220 and concerning the bases, H4350 and concerning the residue H3499 of the vessels H3627 that remain H3498 in this city, H5892 Which Nebuchadnezzar H5019 king H4428 of Babylon H894 took H3947 not, when he carried away captive H1540 Jeconiah H3204 the son H1121 of Jehoiakim H3079 king H4428 of Judah H3063 from Jerusalem H3389 to Babylon, H894 and all the nobles H2715 of Judah H3063 and Jerusalem; H3389 Yea, thus saith H559 the LORD H3068 of hosts, H6635 the God H430 of Israel, H3478 concerning the vessels H3627 that remain H3498 in the house H1004 of the LORD, H3068 and in the house H1004 of the king H4428 of Judah H3063 and of Jerusalem; H3389 They shall be carried H935 to Babylon, H894 and there shall they be until the day H3117 that I visit H6485 them, saith H5002 the LORD; H3068 then will I bring H5927 them up, and restore H7725 them to this place. H4725

Jeremiah 32:31 STRONG

For this city H5892 hath been to me as a provocation of mine anger H639 and of my fury H2534 from the day H3117 that they built H1129 it even unto this day; H3117 that I should remove H5493 it from before my face, H6440

Ezekiel 5:1-17 STRONG

And thou, son H1121 of man, H120 take H3947 thee a sharp H2299 knife, H2719 take H3947 thee a barber's H1532 razor, H8593 and cause it to pass H5674 upon thine head H7218 and upon thy beard: H2206 then take H3947 thee balances H3976 to weigh, H4948 and divide H2505 the hair. Thou shalt burn H1197 with fire H217 a third part H7992 in the midst H8432 of the city, H5892 when the days H3117 of the siege H4692 are fulfilled: H4390 and thou shalt take H3947 a third part, H7992 and smite H5221 about H5439 it with a knife: H2719 and a third part H7992 thou shalt scatter H2219 in the wind; H7307 and I will draw out H7324 a sword H2719 after H310 them. Thou shalt also take H3947 thereof a few H4592 in number, H4557 and bind H6696 them in thy skirts. H3671 Then take of them again, H3947 and cast H7993 them into the midst H8432 of the fire, H784 and burn H8313 them in the fire; H784 for thereof shall a fire H784 come forth H3318 into all the house H1004 of Israel. H3478 Thus saith H559 the Lord H136 GOD; H3069 This is Jerusalem: H3389 I have set H7760 it in the midst H8432 of the nations H1471 and countries H776 that are round about H5439 her. And she hath changed H4784 my judgments H4941 into wickedness H7564 more than the nations, H1471 and my statutes H2708 more than the countries H776 that are round about H5439 her: for they have refused H3988 my judgments H4941 and my statutes, H2708 they have not walked H1980 in them. Therefore thus saith H559 the Lord H136 GOD; H3069 Because ye multiplied H1995 more than the nations H1471 that are round about H5439 you, and have not walked H1980 in my statutes, H2708 neither have kept H6213 my judgments, H4941 neither have done H6213 according to the judgments H4941 of the nations H1471 that are round about H5439 you; Therefore thus saith H559 the Lord H136 GOD; H3069 Behold, I, even I, am against thee, and will execute H6213 judgments H4941 in the midst H8432 of thee in the sight H5869 of the nations. H1471 And I will do H6213 in thee that which I have not done, H6213 and whereunto I will not do H6213 any more the like, because H3282 of all thine abominations. H8441 Therefore the fathers H1 shall eat H398 the sons H1121 in the midst H8432 of thee, and the sons H1121 shall eat H398 their fathers; H1 and I will execute H6213 judgments H8201 in thee, and the whole remnant H7611 of thee will I scatter H2219 into all the winds. H7307 Wherefore, as I live, H2416 saith H5002 the Lord H136 GOD; H3069 Surely, because thou hast defiled H2930 my sanctuary H4720 with all thy detestable things, H8251 and with all thine abominations, H8441 therefore will I also diminish H1639 thee; neither shall mine eye H5869 spare, H2347 neither will I have any pity. H2550 A third part H7992 of thee shall die H4191 with the pestilence, H1698 and with famine H7458 shall they be consumed H3615 in the midst H8432 of thee: and a third part H7992 shall fall H5307 by the sword H2719 round about H5439 thee; and I will scatter H2219 a third part H7992 into all the winds, H7307 and I will draw out H7324 a sword H2719 after H310 them. Thus shall mine anger H639 be accomplished, H3615 and I will cause my fury H2534 to rest H5117 upon them, and I will be comforted: H5162 and they shall know H3045 that I the LORD H3068 have spoken H1696 it in my zeal, H7068 when I have accomplished H3615 my fury H2534 in them. Moreover I will make H5414 thee waste, H2723 and a reproach H2781 among the nations H1471 that are round about H5439 thee, in the sight H5869 of all that pass by. H5674 So it shall be a reproach H2781 and a taunt, H1422 an instruction H4148 and an astonishment H4923 unto the nations H1471 that are round about H5439 thee, when I shall execute H6213 judgments H8201 in thee in anger H639 and in fury H2534 and in furious H2534 rebukes. H8433 I the LORD H3068 have spoken H1696 it. When I shall send H7971 upon them the evil H7451 arrows H2671 of famine, H7458 which shall be for their destruction, H4889 and which I will send H7971 to destroy H7843 you: and I will increase H3254 the famine H7458 upon you, and will break H7665 your staff H4294 of bread: H3899 So will I send H7971 upon you famine H7458 and evil H7451 beasts, H2416 and they shall bereave H7921 thee; and pestilence H1698 and blood H1818 shall pass through H5674 thee; and I will bring H935 the sword H2719 upon thee. I the LORD H3068 have spoken H1696 it.

Ezekiel 12:3-16 STRONG

Therefore, thou son H1121 of man, H120 prepare H6213 thee stuff H3627 for removing, H1473 and remove H1540 by day H3119 in their sight; H5869 and thou shalt remove H1540 from thy place H4725 to another H312 place H4725 in their sight: H5869 it may be they will consider, H7200 though they be a rebellious H4805 house. H1004 Then shalt thou bring forth H3318 thy stuff H3627 by day H3119 in their sight, H5869 as stuff H3627 for removing: H1473 and thou shalt go forth H3318 at even H6153 in their sight, H5869 as they that go forth H4161 into captivity. H1473 Dig H2864 thou through the wall H7023 in their sight, H5869 and carry out H3318 thereby. In their sight H5869 shalt thou bear H5375 it upon thy shoulders, H3802 and carry it forth H3318 in the twilight: H5939 thou shalt cover H3680 thy face, H6440 that thou see H7200 not the ground: H776 for I have set H5414 thee for a sign H4159 unto the house H1004 of Israel. H3478 And I did H6213 so as I was commanded: H6680 I brought forth H3318 my stuff H3627 by day, H3119 as stuff H3627 for captivity, H1473 and in the even H6153 I digged H2864 through the wall H7023 with mine hand; H3027 I brought it forth H3318 in the twilight, H5939 and I bare H5375 it upon my shoulder H3802 in their sight. H5869 And in the morning H1242 came the word H1697 of the LORD H3068 unto me, saying, H559 Son H1121 of man, H120 hath not the house H1004 of Israel, H3478 the rebellious H4805 house, H1004 said H559 unto thee, What doest H6213 thou? Say H559 thou unto them, Thus saith H559 the Lord H136 GOD; H3069 This burden H4853 concerneth the prince H5387 in Jerusalem, H3389 and all the house H1004 of Israel H3478 that are among H8432 them. Say, H559 I am your sign: H4159 like as I have done, H6213 so shall it be done H6213 unto them: they shall remove H1473 and go H3212 into captivity. H7628 And the prince H5387 that is among H8432 them shall bear H5375 upon his shoulder H3802 in the twilight, H5939 and shall go forth: H3318 they shall dig H2864 through the wall H7023 to carry out H3318 thereby: he shall cover H3680 his face, H6440 that H3282 he see H7200 not the ground H776 with his eyes. H5869 My net H7568 also will I spread H6566 upon him, and he shall be taken H8610 in my snare: H4686 and I will bring H935 him to Babylon H894 to the land H776 of the Chaldeans; H3778 yet shall he not see H7200 it, though he shall die H4191 there. And I will scatter H2219 toward every wind H7307 all that are about H5439 him to help H5828 him, and all his bands; H102 and I will draw out H7324 the sword H2719 after H310 them. And they shall know H3045 that I am the LORD, H3068 when I shall scatter H6327 them among the nations, H1471 and disperse H2219 them in the countries. H776 But I will leave H3498 a few H4557 men H582 of them from the sword, H2719 from the famine, H7458 and from the pestilence; H1698 that they may declare H5608 all their abominations H8441 among the heathen H1471 whither they come; H935 and they shall know H3045 that I am the LORD. H3068

Hosea 1:2-9 STRONG

The beginning H8462 of the word H1696 of the LORD H3068 by Hosea. H1954 And the LORD H3068 said H559 to Hosea, H1954 Go, H3212 take H3947 unto thee a wife H802 of whoredoms H2183 and children H3206 of whoredoms: H2183 for the land H776 hath committed great H2181 whoredom, H2181 departing from H310 the LORD. H3068 So he went H3212 and took H3947 Gomer H1586 the daughter H1323 of Diblaim; H1691 which conceived, H2029 and bare H3205 him a son. H1121 And the LORD H3068 said H559 unto him, Call H7121 his name H8034 Jezreel; H3157 for yet a little H4592 while, and I will avenge H6485 the blood H1818 of Jezreel H3157 upon the house H1004 of Jehu, H3058 and will cause to cease H7673 the kingdom H4468 of the house H1004 of Israel. H3478 And it shall come to pass at that day, H3117 that I will break H7665 the bow H7198 of Israel H3478 in the valley H6010 of Jezreel. H3157 And she conceived again, H2029 and bare H3205 a daughter. H1323 And God said H559 unto him, Call H7121 her name H8034 Loruhamah: H3819 for I will no more H3254 have mercy H7355 upon the house H1004 of Israel; H3478 but I will utterly H5375 take them away. H5375 But I will have mercy H7355 upon the house H1004 of Judah, H3063 and will save H3467 them by the LORD H3068 their God, H430 and will not save H3467 them by bow, H7198 nor by sword, H2719 nor by battle, H4421 by horses, H5483 nor by horsemen. H6571 Now when she had weaned H1580 Loruhamah, H3819 she conceived, H2029 and bare H3205 a son. H1121 Then said H559 God, Call H7121 his name H8034 Loammi: H3818 for ye are not my people, H5971 and I will not be your God.

Hosea 3:1-5 STRONG

Then said H559 the LORD H3068 unto me, Go H3212 yet, love H157 a woman H802 beloved H157 of her friend, H7453 yet an adulteress, H5003 according to the love H160 of the LORD H3068 toward the children H1121 of Israel, H3478 who look H6437 to other H312 gods, H430 and love H157 flagons H809 of wine. H6025 So I bought H3739 her to me for fifteen H6240 H2568 pieces of silver, H3701 and for an homer H2563 of barley, H8184 and an half homer H3963 of barley: H8184 And I said H559 unto her, Thou shalt abide H3427 for me many H7227 days; H3117 thou shalt not play the harlot, H2181 and thou shalt not be H1961 for another man: H376 so will I also be for thee. For the children H1121 of Israel H3478 shall abide H3427 many H7227 days H3117 without a king, H4428 and without a prince, H8269 and without a sacrifice, H2077 and without an image, H4676 and without an ephod, H646 and without teraphim: H8655 Afterward H310 shall the children H1121 of Israel H3478 return, H7725 and seek H1245 the LORD H3068 their God, H430 and David H1732 their king; H4428 and shall fear H6342 the LORD H3068 and his goodness H2898 in the latter H319 days. H3117

Hosea 12:10 STRONG

I have also spoken H1696 by the prophets, H5030 and I have multiplied H7235 visions, H2377 and used similitudes, H1819 by the ministry H3027 of the prophets. H5030

Amos 3:2 STRONG

You only have I known H3045 of all the families H4940 of the earth: H127 therefore I will punish H6485 you for all your iniquities. H5771

Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Keil & Delitzsch Commentary » Commentary on Ezekiel 4

Commentary on Ezekiel 4 Keil & Delitzsch Commentary


Introduction
1-3

Verses 4-8

The second symbolical act. - Ezekiel 4:4. And do thou lay thyself upon thy left side, and lay upon it the evil deeds of the house of Israel; for the number of the days during which thou liest thereon shalt thou bear their evil deeds. Ezekiel 4:5 . And I reckon to thee the years of their evil deeds as a number of days; three hundred and ninety days shalt thou bear the evil deeds of the house of Israel. Ezekiel 4:6 . And (when) thou hast completed these, thou shalt then lay thyself a second time upon thy right side, and bear the evil deeds of the house of Judah forty days; each day I reckon to thee as a year. Ezekiel 4:7 . And upon the siege of Jerusalem shalt thou stedfastly direct thy countenance, and thy naked arm, and shalt prophesy against it. Ezekiel 4:8 . And, lo, I lay cords upon thee, that thou stir not from one side to the other until thou hast ended the days of thy siege. - Whilst Ezekiel, as God's representative, carries out in a symbolical manner the siege of Jerusalem, he is in this situation to portray at the same time the destiny of the people of Israel beleaguered in their metropolis. Lying upon his left side for 390 days without turning, he is to bear the guilt of Israel's sin; then, lying 40 days more upon his right side, he is to bear the guilt of Judah's sin. In so doing, the number of the days during which he reclines upon his sides shall be accounted as exactly equal to the same number of years of their sinning. נשׂא עון , “to bear the evil deeds,” i.e., to take upon himself the consequence of sin, and to stone for them, to suffer the punishment of sin; cf. Numbers 14:34, etc. Sin, which produces guilt and punishment, is regarded as a burden or weight, which Ezekiel is to lay upon the side upon which he reclines, and in this way bear it. This bearing, however, of the guilt of sin is not to be viewed as vicarious and mediatorial, as in the sacrifice of atonement, but is intended as purely epideictic and symbolical; that is to say, Ezekiel, by his lying so long bound under the burden of Israel and Judah which was laid upon his side, is to show to the people how they are to be cast down by the siege of Jerusalem, and how, while lying on the ground, without the possibility of turning or rising, they are to bear the punishment of their sins. The full understanding of this symbolical act, however, depends upon the explanation of the specified periods of time, with regard to which the various views exhibit great discrepancy.

In the first place, the separation of the guilt into that of the house of Israel and that of the house of Judah is closely connected with the division of the covenant people into the two kingdoms of Israel and Judah. That Ezekiel now is to bear the sin of Israel upon the left, that of Judah on the right side, is not fully explained by the circumstance that the kingdom of the ten tribes lay to the left, i.e., to the north, the kingdom of Judah to the right, i.e., to the south of Jerusalem, but must undoubtedly point at the same time to the pre-eminence of Judah over Israel; cf. Ecclesiastes 10:2. This pre-eminence of Judah is manifestly exhibited in its period of punishment extending only to 40 days = 40 years; that of Israel, on the contrary, 390 days = 390 years. These numbers, however, cannot be satisfactorily explained from a chronological point of view, whether they be referred to the time during which Israel and Judah sinned, and heaped upon themselves guilt which was to be punished, or to the time during which they were to atone, or suffer punishment for their sins. Of themselves, both references are possible; the first, viz., in so far as the days in which Ezekiel is to bear the guilt of Israel, might be proportioned to the number of the years of their guilt, as many Rabbins, Vatablus, Calvin, Lightfoot, Vitringa, J. D. Michaelis, and others suppose, while in so doing the years are calculated very differently; cf. des Vignoles, Chronol . I. p. 479ff., and Rosenmüller, Scholia, Excurs . to ch. iv. All these hypotheses, however, are shattered by the impossibility of pointing out the specified periods of time, so as to harmonize with the chronology. If the days, reckoned as years, correspond to the duration of their sinning, then, in the case of the house of Israel, only the duration of this kingdom could come into consideration, as the period of punishment began with the captivity of the ten tribes. But this kingdom lasted only 253 years. The remaining 137 years the Rabbins have attempted to supply from the period of the Judges; others, from the time of the destruction of the ten tribes down to that of Ezekiel, or even to that of the destruction of Jerusalem. Both are altogether arbitrary. Still less can the 40 years of Judah be calculated, as all the determinations of the beginning and the end are mere phantoms of the air. The fortieth year before our prophecy would nearly coincide with the eighteenth year of Josiah's reign, and therefore with the year in which this pious king effected the reformation of religion. Ezekiel, however, could not represent this year as marking the commencement of Judah's sin. We must therefore, as the literal meaning of the words primarily indicates, regard the specified periods of time as periods of punishment for Israel and Judah. Since Ezekiel, then, had to maintain during the symbolical siege of Jerusalem this attitude of reclining for Israel and Judah, and after the completion of the 390 days for Israel must lie a second time ( שׁנית , Ezekiel 4:6) 40 days for Judah, he had to recline in all 430 (390 + 40) days. To include the forty days in the three hundred and ninety is contrary to the statements in the text. But to reckon the two periods together has not only no argument against it, but is even suggested by the circumstance that the prophet, while reclining on his left and right sides, is to represent the siege of Jerusalem. Regarded, however, as periods of punishment, both the numbers cannot be explained consistently with the chronology, but must be understood as having a symbolical signification. The space of 430 years, which is announced to both kingdoms together as the duration of this chastisement, recalls the 430 years which in the far past Israel had spent in Egypt in bondage (Exodus 12:40). It had been already intimated to Abraham (Genesis 15:13) that the sojourn in Egypt would be a period of servitude and humiliation for his seed; and at a later time, in consequence of the oppression which the Israelites then experienced on account of the rapid increase of their number, it was - upon the basis of the threat in Deuteronomy 28:68, that God would punish Israel for their persistent declension, by bringing them back into ignominious bondage in Egypt - taken by the prophet as a type of the banishment of rebellious Israel among the heathen . In this sense Hosea already threatens (Hosea 8:13; Hosea 9:3, Hosea 9:6) the ten tribes with being carried back to Egypt; see on Hosea 9:3. Still more frequently, upon the basis of this conception, is the redemption from Assyrian and Babylonian exile announced as a new and miraculous exodus of Israel from the bondage of Egypt, e.g., Hosea 2:2; Isaiah 11:15-16. - This typical meaning lies also at the foundation of the passage before us, as, in accordance with the statement of Jerome,

(Note: Alii vero et maxime Judaei a secundo anno Vespasiani, quando Hierusalem a Romanis capta templumque subversum est, supputari volunt in tribulatione et angustia et captivitatis jugo populi constitui annos quadringentos triginta, et sic redire populum ad pristinum statum ut quomodo filii Israel 430 annis fuerunt in Aegypto, sic in eodem numero finiatur: scriptumque esse in Exodus 12:40. - Hieronymus.)

it was already accepted by the Jews of his time, and has been again recognised in modern times by Hävernick and Hitzig. That Ezekiel looked upon the period during which Israel had been subject to the heathen in the past as “typical of the future, is to be assumed, because only then does the number of 430 cease to be arbitrary and meaningless, and at the same time its division into 390 + 40 become explicable.” - Hitzig.

This latter view is not, of course, to be understood as Hitzig and Hävernick take it, i.e., as if the 40 years of Judah's chastisement were to be viewed apart from the 40 years' sojourn of the Israelites in the wilderness, upon which the look of the prophet would have been turned by the sojourn in Egypt. For the 40 years in the wilderness are not included in the 430 years of the Egyptian sojourn, so that Ezekiel could have reduced these 430 years to 390, and yet have added to them the 40 years of the desert wanderings. For the coming period of punishment, which is to commence for Israel with the siege of Jerusalem, is fixed at 430 years with reference to the Egyptian bondage of the Israelites, and this period is divided into 390 and 40; and this division therefore must also have, if not its point of commencement, at least a point of connection, in the 430 years of the Egyptian sojourn. The division of the period of chastisement into two parts is to be explained probably from the sending of the covenant people into the kingdom of Israel and Judah, and the appointment of a longer period of chastisement for Israel than for Judah, from the greater guilt of the ten tribes in comparison with Judah, but not the incommensurable relation of the divisions into 390 and 40 years. The foundation of this division can, first of all, only lie in this, that the number forty already possessed the symbolical significance of a measured period of divine visitation. This significance it had already received, not through the 40 years of the desert wandering, but through the 40 days of rain at the time of the deluge (Genesis 7:17), so that, in conformity with this, the punishment of dying in the wilderness, suspended over the rebellious race of Israel at Kadesh, is already stated at 40 years, although it included in reality only 38 years; see on Numbers 14:32. If now, however, it should be supposed that this penal sentence had contributed to the fixing of the number 40 as a symbolical number to denote a longer period of punishment, the 40 years of punishment for Judah could not yet have been viewed apart from this event. The fixing of the chastisement for Israel and Judah at 390 + 40 years could only in that case be measured by the sojourn of the Israelites in Egypt, if the relations of this sojourn presented a point of connection for a division of the 430 years into 390 and 40, i.e., if the 40 last years of the Egyptian servitude could somehow be distinguished from the preceding 390. A point of contact for this is offered by an event in the life of Moses which falls within that period, and was fertile in results for him as well as for the whole of Israel, viz., his flight from Egypt in consequence of the slaughter of an Egyptian who had ill-treated an Israelite. As the Israelites, his brethren, did not recognise the meaning of this act, and did not perceive that God would save them by his hand, Moses was necessitated to flee into the land of Midian, and to tarry there 40 years as a stranger, until the Lord called him to be the saviour of his nation, and sent him as His messenger to Pharaoh (Ex 2:11-3:10; Acts 7:23-30). These 40 years were for Moses not only a time of trial and purification for his future vocation, but undoubtedly also the period of severest Egyptian oppression for the Israelites, and in this respect quite fitted to be a type of the coming time of punishment for Judah, in which was to be repeated what Israel had experienced in Egypt, that, as Israel had lost their helper and protector with the flight of Moses, so now Judah was to lose her king, and be given over to the tyranny of the heathen world-power.

(Note: Another ingenious explanation of the numbers in question has been attempted by Kliefoth, Comment . p. 123. Proceeding from the symbolical signification of the number 40 as a measure of time for divine visitation and trial, he supposes that the prescription in Deuteronomy 25:3 - that if an Israelite were to be subject to corporal punishment, he was not to receive more than 40 stripes - is founded upon this symbolical signification - a prescription which, according to 2 Corinthians 11:24, was in practice so carried out that only 39 were actually inflicted. From the application and bearing thus given to the number 40, the symbolical numbers in the passage before us are to be explained. Every year of punishment is equivalent to a stripe of chastisement. To the house of Israel 10 x 39 years = stripes, were adjudged, i.e., to each of the ten tribes 39 years = stripes; the individual tribes are treated as so many single individuals, and each receives the amount of chastisement usual in the case of one individual. Judah, on the contrary, is regarded as the one complete historical national tribe, cause in the two faithful tribes of Judah and Benjamin the people collectively were represented. Judah, then, may receive, not the number of stripes falling to individuals, but that only which fell upon one, although, as a fair compensation, not the usual number of 40, but the higher number - compatible with the Torah - of 40 stripes = years. To this explanation we would give our assent, if only the transformation into stripes or blows of the days of the prophet's reclining, or of the years of Israel's punishment, could be shown to be probable through any analogous Biblical example, and were not merely a deduction from the modern law of punishment, in which corporal punishment and imprisonment hold the same importance. The assumption, then, is altogether arbitrary irrespective of this, that in the case of the house of Israel the measure of punishment is fixed differently from that of Judah; in the former case, according to the number of the tribes; in the latter, according to the unity of the kingdom: in the former at 39, in the latter at 40 stripes. Finally, the presupposition that the later Jewish practice of inflicting only 30 instead of 40 stripes - in order not to transgress the letter of the law in the enumeration which probably was made at the infliction of the punishment - goes back to the time of the exile, is extremely improbable, as it altogether breathes the spirit of Pharisaic micrology.)

While Ezekiel thus reclines upon one side, he is to direct his look unchangingly upon the siege of Jerusalem, i.e., upon the picture of the besieged city, and keep his arm bare, i.e., ready for action (Isaiah 52:10), and outstretched, and prophesy against the city, especially through the menacing attitude which he had taken up against it. To be able to carry this out, God will bind him with cords, i.e., fetter him to his couch (see on Ezekiel 3:25), so that he cannot stir from one side to another until he has completed the time enjoined upon him for the siege. In this is contained the thought that the siege of Jerusalem is to be mentally carried on until its capture; but no new symbol of the state of prostration of the besieged Jerusalem is implied. For such a purpose the food of the prophet (Ezekiel 4:9.) during this time is employed.


Verses 9-17

The third symbolical act. - Ezekiel 4:9. And do thou take to thyself wheat, and barley, and beans, and lentiles, and millet, and spelt, and put them in a vessel, and prepare them as bread for thyself, according to the number of the days on which thou liest on thy side; three hundred and ninety days shalt thou eat it. Ezekiel 4:10 . And thy food, which thou eatest, shall be according to weight, twenty shekels for a day; from time to time shalt thou eat it. Ezekiel 4:11 . And water shalt thou drink according to measure, a sixth part of the hin, from time to time shalt thou drink it. Ezekiel 4:12 . And as barley cakes shalt thou eat it, and shalt bake it before their eyes with human excrement. Ezekiel 4:13 . And Jehovah spake; then shall the children of Israel eat their bread polluted amongst the heathen, whither I shall drive them. Ezekiel 4:14 . Then said I: Ah! Lord, Jehovah, my soul has never been polluted; and of a carcase, and of that which is torn, have I never eaten from my youth up until now, and abominable flesh has not come into my mouth. Ezekiel 4:15 . Then said He unto me: Lo, I allow thee the dung of animals instead of that of man; therewith mayest thou prepare thy bread. Ezekiel 4:16 . And He said to me, Son of man, lo, I will break the staff of bread in Jerusalem, so that they will eat bread according to weight, and in affliction, and drink water by measure, and in amazement. Ezekiel 4:17 . Because bread and water shall fail, and they shall pine away one with another, and disappear in their guilt. - For the whole duration of the symbolical siege of Jerusalem, Ezekiel is to furnish himself with a store of grain corn and leguminous fruits, to place this store in a vessel beside him, and daily to prepare in the form of bread a measured portion of the same, 20 shekels in weight (about 9 ounces), and to bake this as barley cakes upon a fire, prepared with dried dung, and then to partake of it at the different hours for meals throughout the day. In addition to this, he is, at the hours appointed for eating, to drink water, in like manner according to measure, a sixth part of the hin daily, i.e., a quantity less than a pint (cf. Biblisch. Archהol . II. p. 141). The Israelites, probably, generally prepared the עגּות from wheat flour, and not merely when they had guests (Genesis 18:6). Ezekiel, however, is to take, in addition, other kinds of grain with leguminous fruits, which were employed in the preparation of bread when wheat was deficient; barley - baked into bread by the poor (Judges 7:13; 2 Kings 4:42; John 6:9; see on 1 Kings 5:8); פּול , “beans,” a common food of the Hebrews (2 Samuel 17:28), which appears to have been mixed with other kinds of grain for the purpose of being baked into bread.

(Note: Cf. Plinii Histor. Natur. xviii. 30 : “Inter legumina maximus honos fabae, quippe ex qua tentatus sit etiam panis...Frumento etiam miscetur apud plerasque gentes et maxime panico solida ac delicatius fracta.” )

This especially holds true of the lentiles, a favourite food of the Hebrews (Genesis 25:29.), from which, in Egypt at the present day, the poor still bake bread in times of severe famine (Sonnini, R. II. 390; ἄρτος φάκινος , Athenaeus , IV. 158). דּחן , “millet,” termed by the Arabs ”Dochn” (Arab. dchn ), panicum , a fruit cultivated in Egypt, and still more frequently in Arabia (see Wellsted, Arab . I. 295), consisting of longish round brown grain, resembling rice, from which, in the absence of better fruits, a sort of bad bread is baked. Cf. Celsius, Hierobotan , i. 453ff.; and Gesen. Thesaur . p. 333. כּסּמים , “spelt or German corn” (cf. Exodus 9:32), a kind of grain which produces a finer and whiter flour than wheat flour; the bread, however, which is baked from it is somewhat dry, and is said to be less nutritive than wheat bread; cf. Celsius, Hierobotan , ii. 98f. Of all these fruits Ezekiel is to place certain quantities in a vessel - to indicate that all kinds of grain and leguminous fruits capable of being converted into bread will be collected, in order to bake bread for the appeasing of hunger. In the intermixture of various kinds of flour we are not, with Hitzig, to seek a transgression of the law in Leviticus 19:19; Deuteronomy 22:9. מספּר is the accusative of measure or duration. The quantity is to be fixed according to the number of the days. In Ezekiel 4:9 only the 390 days of the house of Israel's period of punishment are mentioned - quod plures essent et fere universa summa (Prado); and because this was sufficient to make prominent the hardship and oppression of the situation, the 40 days of Judah were omitted for the sake of brevity.

(Note: Kliefoth's supposition is untenable, that what is required in Ezekiel 4:9-17 refers in reality only to the 390 days of Israel, and not also to the 40 days of Judah, so that so long as Ezekiel lay and bore the sins of Israel, he was to eat his food by measure, and unclean. For this is in contradiction with the distinct announcement that during the whole time that he lay upon the one side and the other, he was besieging Jerusalem; and by the scanty and unclean food, was to portray both the deficiency of bread and water which occurred in the besieged city (Ezekiel 4:17), as well as the eating of unclean bread, which impended over the Israelites when among the heathen nations. The famine which took place in Jerusalem during the siege did not affect the ten tribes, but that of Judah; while unclean bread had to be eaten among the heathen not only by the Israelites, but also by the Jews transported to Babylon. By the limitation of what is prescribed to the prophet in Ezekiel 4:9-15 to the time during which the sin of Israel was to be borne, the significance of this symbolical act for Jerusalem and Judah is taken away.)

' מאכלך וגו , “thy food which thou shalt eat,” i.e., the definite portion which thou shalt have to eat, shall be according to weight (between subject and predicate the substantive verb is to be supplied). Twenty shekels = 8 or 9 ounces of flour, yield 11 or 12 ounces of bread, i.e., at most the half of what a man needs in southern countries for his daily support.

(Note: In our climate (Germany) we count 2 lbs. of bread for the daily supply of a man; but in warm countries the demand for food is less, so that scarcely 1 1/2 lbs. are required. Wellsted ( Travels in Arabia , II. p. 200) relates that “the Bedoweens will undertake a journey of 10 to 12 days without carrying with them any nutriment, save a bottle full of small cakes, baked of white flour and camel or goat's milk, and a leather bag of water. Such a cake weighs about 5 ounces. Two of them, and a mouthful of water, the latter twice within 24 hours, is all which they then partake of.”)

The same is the case with the water. A sixth part of a hin, i.e., a quantity less than a pint, is a very niggardly allowance for a day. Both, however - eating the bread and drinking the water - he shall do from time to time, i.e., “not throughout the entire fixed period of 390 days” (Hävernick); but he shall not eat the daily ration at once, but divided into portions according to the daily hours of meals, so that he will never be completely satisfied. In addition to this is the pollution (Ezekiel 4:12.) of the scanty allowance of food by the manner in which it is prepared. ענּת שׂערים is predicate: “as barley cakes,” shalt thou eat them. The suffix in תּאכלנּה is neuter, and refers to לחם in Ezekiel 4:9, or rather to the kinds of grain there enumerated, which are ground and baked before them: לחם , i.e., “food.” The addition שׂערים is not to be explained from this, that the principal part of these consisted of barley, nor does it prove that in general no other than barley cakes were known (Hitzig), but only that the cakes of barley meal, baked in the ashes, were an extremely frugal kind of bread, which that prepared by Ezekiel was to resemble. The עגּה was probably always baked on hot ashes, or on hot stones (1 Kings 19:6), not on pans, as Kliefoth here supposes. The prophet, however, is to bake them in (with) human ordure. This is by no means to be understood as if he were to mix the ordure with the food, for which view Isaiah 36:12 has been erroneously appealed to; but - as עליהם in Ezekiel 4:15 clearly shows - he is to bake it over the dung, i.e., so that dung forms the material of the fire. That the bread must be polluted by this is conceivable, although it cannot be proved from the passages in Leviticus 5:3; Leviticus 7:21, and Deuteronomy 23:13 that the use of fire composed of dung made the food prepared thereon levitically unclean. The use of fire with human ordure must have communicated to the bread a loathsome smell and taste, by which it was rendered unclean, even if it had not been immediately baked in the hot ashes. That the pollution of the bread is the object of this injunction, we see from the explanation which God gives in Ezekiel 4:13 : “Thus shall the children of Israel eat their defiled bread among the heathen.” The heart of the prophet, however, rebels against such food. He says he has never in his life polluted himself by eating food forbidden in the law; from his youth up he has eaten no unclean flesh, neither of a carcase, nor of that which was torn by wild beasts (cf. Exodus 22:30; Deuteronomy 14:21), nor flesh of sacrifices decayed or putrefying ( פּגּוּל , see on Leviticus 7:18; Isaiah 65:4). On this God omits the requirement in Ezekiel 4:12, and permits him to take for firing the dung of oxen instead of that of men.

(Note: The use of dung as a material for burning is so common in the East, that it cannot be supposed that Ezekiel first became acquainted with it in a foreign country, and therefore regarded it with peculiar loathing. Human ordure, of course, so far as our knowledge goes, is never so employed, although the objection raised by Hitzig, on the other hand, that it would not yield so much heat as would be necessary for roasting without immediate contact, i.e., through the medium of a brick, rests upon an erroneous representation of the matter. But the employment of cattle-dung for firing could not be unknown to the Israelites, as it forms in the Huaran (the ancient Bashan) the customary firing material; cf. Wetzstein's remarks on Delitzsch's Job , vol. I. pp. 377, 8 (Eng. trn.), where the preparation of the g'elle - this prevalent material for burning in the Hauran - from cow-dung mixed with chopped straw is minutely described; and this remark is made among others, that the flame of the g'elle , prepared and dried from the dung of oxen that feed at large, is entirely without smoke, and that the ashes, which retain their heat for a lengthened time, are as clean as those of wood.)

In Ezekiel 4:16., finally, is given the explanation of the scanty allowance of food meted out to the prophet, namely, that the Lord, at the impending siege of Jerusalem, is to take away from the people the staff of bread, and leave them to languish in hunger and distress. The explanation is in literal adherence to the threatenings of the law (Leviticus 26:26 and Leviticus 26:39), which are now to pass into fulfilment. Bread is called “staff of bread” as being indispensable for the preservation of life. To בּמשׁקל , Leviticus 26:26, בּדאגה , “in sorrow,” is added; and to the water, בּשׁמּמון , “in astonishment,” i.e., in fixed, silent pain at the miserable death, by hunger and thirst, which they see before them. נמקּוּ בּעונם as Leviticus 26:39. If we, finally, cast a look over the contents of this first sign, it says that Jerusalem is soon to be besieged, and during the siege is to suffer hunger and terror as a punishment for the sins of Israel and Judah; that upon the capture of the city of Israel (Judah) they are to be dispersed among the heathen, and will there be obliged to eat unclean bread. To this in Ezekiel 5 is joined a second sign, which shows further how it shall fare with the people at and after the capture of Jerusalem (Ezekiel 4:1-4); and after that a longer oracle, which developes the significance of these signs, and establishes the necessity of the penal judgment (Ezekiel 4:5-17).